Superman
Superman also known as Clark Kent or Kal-El is the defender of Metropolis, he was the opposite of the Bruce Wayne Batman as well as the latter's greatest friend and ally. Superman is an alien from the distant planet of Krypton sent to Earth upon the destruction of Krypton by his father. Considered the most powerful creature on Earth, Superman, if malignant, would make the most dangerous threat to all of mankind, being potentially unstoppable. The only being whose powers rival those of Superman's are those of Shazam. Although initially quite cocky, brash and quick to anger, Superman's will to protect the people resulted in his attitude mellowing out over the years. Eventually becoming one of the more serious heroes, Superman transformed into the world's role model, a person everybody aspired to be. Methodology Unlike other superheroes, there was no true tragedy in Clark Kent's life other than his own existance. Being an alien, alone in the entire Earth, was what seperated Clark from everybody else and made him a loner. Upon the deaths of his adopted parents, Clark realized that his extraordinary powers did not make him any less human than the rest of Earth and he was not exempt from human laws. Clark was to use his powers to inspire people to do the right thing, rarely interfering unless he needed to. The point of Superman was to show people the righteous path and ensure they could achieve it by themselves. Hence, despite greatly wanting to take down oppressive warlords, end poverty and stop wrongful death, as Superman, Clark decided it was better to set the example and try to let the rest of humanity solve the problems on their own rather than look to him as a solution. Biography Rise to Fame Upon the pending destruction of Krypton, the biological father and mother of the infant Kal-El, Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van, attempted to escape with their child into the Phantom Zone. However, Xa-Du, trapped in the zone, would attack Jor-El, with the threat to raise Kal-El with hatred and make him Zod's heir, they were unable to leave. Finding no other way, Jor-El rocketed Kal-El out to the planet Earth, with the Brainiac AI in his rocket. Kal El landed in Smallville and was found by Jonathan Kent and Martha Kent, who raised him as if he was their own son. The two cared for him in the moments of insecurity he faced when confronting the powers he gained. The two taught him ideals that he was to use the powers he gained under Earth's Yellow Sun for the greater good of the world. Eventually visited by the Legion of Super-Heroes, who gave him a Legion Ring, inspring an idea which Clark realized years later. When he was a teenager, Clark still would not fit in, blaming this on the fact that he had powers and was getting more powers that others did not have. Despite this, he would manage to have a serious relationship with Lana Lang, who he fell in love with. However, on his prom, Jonathan and Martha died in a car crash, leaving Clark heartbroken. After a few years, Clark left Lana and Smallville behind, heading to Metropolis. There, Clark became a journalist and joined the Daily Star in an effort take down the city's corrupt. Contacted by a man named Icarus, Clark was given hints about impending disastors. Clark also became good friends with James Olsen, a photographer for the Daily Planet, and rival of Lois Lane. However, Clark quickly decided that journalism would not be enough in his efforts against corruption and decided on vigilantism. To fight crime, Clark got several T-Shirts made with a strange "S" symbol on it. Months prior to his public debut as a vigilante, Clark decided to test his limits in the Zero Year of Gotham City. Checking if he could make the Blackout less brutal by stopping the hurricane, Clark ended up failing, though he did save a freighter and helped people make shelter to stave off the hurricane. Months later, due to his shirts, Clark ended up becoming known as Superman and quickly became an urban legend in Metropolis. Superman's first order of business was taking down Glen Glenmorgan, the corrupt Mr. Metropolis. Clark was officially coined Superman after saving a child from getting hit by an oncoming train. Superman made his public debut when he made Glenmorgan confess to his sins. During this time, Superman was captured by Lex Luthor by the request of the U.S Government and was tortured. Soon after, Superman faced the Collector of Worlds and saved the city of Metropolis from doom, becoming a beloved hero while also learning about his Kryptonian origins. Superman also reprogrammed the Collector's ship into becoming his Fortress of Solitude. After a brief foray in Gotham City to meet with Bruce Wayne, Clark became Superman and tried to deal with the Batman, who had arrived in Metropolis. The battle was interrupted by a New God that transported the two to Earth 2. There Clark fought the Batman of that Earth, not realizing it to be a "different" person until that Earth's Jonathan Kent showed up. After embracing this new Earth's version of his parents, Superman was met by his counterpart, who introduced him to Earth 2's Lois Lane, who just so happened to be "Superman 2's" wife. However, the Wonder Woman of Earth 2 then revealed Lois to be possessed by Kaiyo the Trickster. Kaiyo then had Superman and Superman 2 team up with Batman and Batman 2 to find a crystal with which to stop the Apokolips War. In the end, Kaiyo decided to reside on Earth Prime, wiping Superman's memory of meeting with Batman and travelling to Earth 2 and meeting his counterpart. However, when the Parademon Invasion of Earth occured, Superman was forced to team up with Batman, Green Lantern, Flash, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Cyborg. After repelling the invasion of Darkseid, the team became known collectively as the Justice League and often fought threats together. Out of the team, though, Clark's best friend was surprisingly his opposite, Batman. During this time, Superman learned valuable lessons from the Justice League as to not meddle in the affairs of other countries or participate within wars or such. This helped to bring Superman's arrogance down a tad more as he learned that his main goal was to simply protect the Earth from threats that nobody else could help with. Switching over to the Daily Planet, Clark found himself at an identity crisis all the while being stalked by Nimrod the Hunter. Temporarily abandoning the identity of Clark Kent, Superman returned to it after deciding it to be the best for him. He also came into contact with the Metaleks, Captain Comet and the Multitude. After fights with Erik Drekken, Xa-Du and his reunion with Krypto, Superman found the brunt of his problems to be caused by Vyndktvx. During this time, Superman's rivalry with Lex Luthor continued. Lex had become a major power in the city of Metropolis after the fall of Glenmorgan. However Lex wanted nothing more than to kill Superman, creating the K-Man to try and do so. Despite his weakness to Kryptonite, Superman managed to defeat the K-Man and raise the ire of Luthor. Superman's friendship with the Batman also continued to grow, with him joining the Dark Knight on an adventure with the Robin at the time. Doomsday Superman then faced his greatest challenge yet, Doomsday. A threat to all things imaginable, Superman was eventually forced to resort to the devilish creatures level and kill it, at the cost of his own life as well. After an undisclosed amount of time, though, Superman was mysteriously revived and continued his status as the defender of Metropolis. Soon after once again experiencing his fight against the Multitude on Mars, the Anti-Superman Army made it's move against the Man of Steel by attacking him in the same fashion Doomsday did. Nearly killed by the Army, Superman bounced back and defeated the threat of Superdoom and ending the threat of Vyndktvx once and for all. Reporting on an uprising in the country of Qurac, Clark secretly investigated the country as Superman for illegal arms only to get attacked by men in war machines. Finding one of these men to have altered their appearance to match that of Jimmy Olsen, Superman found more mystery in the country than he figured. Three weeks after Superman found his hand to be infected and his body to be morphing, the infection was removed but quickly became it's own creature entirely, a hybrid that merged Superman's Kryptonian DNA with it's own. Although Superman managed to subdue the Hybrid, his fight soon became with Lex Luthor, whom he discovered to be behind the Hybrid. Superman defeated Luthor and locked the madman in a prison of his own design. Hell on Earth After taking a long absence from crime fighting, Superman joined up with the Legion of Super-Heroes by going back in time and trying to prevent the Anti-Superman Army from stealing the Kryptonite Engine. Returning to his status as a public hero, Superman met his cousin, Kara Zor-El and fought to a draw with Helspont, a former commander of the Daemonites. Superman was subsequently defeated by Enchantress, Anguish, Graves and a strange mercenary creature in Russia. Superman also confronted Jason Todd, however, as per request from Batman, refused to turn the outlaw in against his own better judgment. Along with the rest of the Justice League, Superman defeated Graves in their rematch only to have relations within the League strained. Superman, however, ended up in a relationship with Wonder Woman. Superman then learned the truth of the Daemonites and quit the Daily Planet after an argument with Morgan Edge. After being met another surviving Kryptonian, H'El, Superman was faced with the decision of choosing between Krypton and Earth. After realizing H'El to be a murderous madman, Superman also met his clone, Superboy. Calling on the Justice League, Superman managed to stop H'El by sending him back in time. Superman was present when the Justice League elected Rhonda Pineda, Firestorm and Element Woman as it's three newest members. Superman later aided Batman in fighting Will o' the Wisp, all the while confronting him about the death of Damian Wayne. Superman's sexual relationship with Wonder Woman continued, with the two intervening in the country of Kahndaq, further damaging the relationship between the Justice League and the public. Wonder Woman used the identity of Diana Prince when posing as Clark's girlfriend in the public. As Clark Kent, his quitting the Daily Planet forced him to team up with socialite journalist Cat Grant. Deciding to launch a website to combat Morgan Edge, they decided on clarkcattropolis.com as a media website. Superman's great power soon led to him getting involved with the likes of Orion and Hector Hammond, eventually leading into the event that became known as Psi War. In the events leading to the conflict, Superman continued to get involved with Hammond, going so far as getting into conflict with the H.I.V.E. and the Pax Galactica. His involvement with the Pax Galactica led into him fighting Lexus. The H.I.V.E. Queen even managed to defeat Superman and embrace his unconscious body and later on had him temporarily join H.I.V.E., that was until Hammond wrestled Superman free of her control and left him to confront and battle Psycho Pirate. Shortly after the end of the Psi War, Superman was informed by the Oracle of the existence of an alternate Krypton whose history was threatening to overtake his. Upon returning to Earth, Clark and Bruce were forced to team up to try and stop Mongul from invading the Earth. Later, Clark discovered an inter-dimensional breach at Venezuela and made his way there to find an alien dinosaurid attacking. Whilst continuing to get closer to Diana, Clark was contacted by the Justice League to handle a storm near Norwegia. He uncovered the resurgence of Doomsday and decided to take up Diana's advice on getting better armour to take on the beast. Forever Evil After checking up on Despero with Diana, Superman was met by Pandora. Being called the purest at heart, it was requested that he open her box. The box managed to take control of Superman, simply because he was more human at heart than anybody else. Discovering a superpowered American to be in Kahndaq, Superman went there and fought him, Shazam. The two were evenly matched, but stopped the fight when the Justice League arrived with Zatanna. Immediately afterwards they were met by the new Justice League of America. When Arthur Light accidentally attacked Diana, though, Superman lost control and accidentally killed him. The first stage of the Trinity War ended with an enraged Superman incapacitating the League and the JLA, demanding to be locked up. Very soon, though, he was freed by the Question, who offered him his hand and the opportunity to find out who actually killed Arthur Light. Leading his own group with the Question, Superman, his condition rapdily deteriorating made his way to Athens, Greece where he confronted Batman and Wonder Woman's groups for the box. The ensuing chaos ended when Superman ended up unconscious due to a sliver of Kryptonite in his brain. The Crime Syndicate went on to place Superman in a prison where his guilt overtook him and made him desire to turn back time and reverse Light's death. Unchained After eight satellites fell from the sky, Superman found himself embroiled in a strange conflict with the Ascension and Wraith. Stopping the Ascension alongside Wraith in Paris, Superman learned that his fellow alien comrade too was powered by the Sun. True Life The life Superman ended up living was in truth an altered version of his true history, altered due to the meddlings of Vyndktvx. In reality, the life that Superman was supposed to lead was much of the same, but as Jonathan and Martha did not die when he was young, Clark Kent ended up marrying Lana Lang. Moving to Metropolis with his wife and parents, Clark still ended up becoming Superman and battling foes like Braniac and getting clobbered to death by Doomsday. Clark's marriage to Lana was to eventually dissolve, with him remarrying to Lois Lane, with whom he somehow had a son, Jon Lane Kent. Jon was taken from the couple by the time travelling Harvest, who managed to take the child before Vyndktvx could change the future. Due to Jon Lane Kent's existence, while this future did occur, it changed and was forgotten. Powers Essentially a living Solar Battery, under the light of the Yellow Sun of Earth, Superman possesses many different powers. His cells absorb and metabolize the energy coming from the Yellow Sun's light rays. This absorbtion gives him access to several different powers. It most prominently makes him invulnerable to almost every weapon on Earth, with his skin being much sharper than a diamond. This invulnerability came in good use as he was also a masterful hand to hand martial artist. Only weapons from alien worlds were strong enough to be much of a match for Superman. Even when he was injured, Superman possessed a healing factor that allowed him to heal faster than humans. He was also able to hear and smell objects from much further away, allowing him to sense danger in several places. Armour Superman wears unique Kryptonian armour which he obtained from the Collector's ship. The armour is synced to his DNA, allowing it to show up with any of his family's unique crests or symbols. The armour can also be attached to his body or be removed and downgraded into a simple paperweight resembling the El Family Crest. Relationships Bruce Wayne Despite being completely opposite of Bruce Wayne, the pinnacle of human achievement and only true threat to Superman, the Man of Tomorrow was the only member of the Justice League that the Batman trusted. This is because despite all of their differences, they were very much alike, and though each had suspicions on each other, they were both the best of friends. Diana of Themyscaria Both Superman and Wonder Woman were both seen as strange outsiders when they first debuted to the public and were initially looked upon with grieve mistrust and later sincere honour. For this, during their tenure in the Justice League, Superman and Diana got along better than most other people. However, when Steve Trevor would be injured, Diana would end up coming to blows with Superman. Although the relationship was primarily sexual, the two did end up bonding quite closely. Team Unlike his counterpart, Batman, Superman has barely participated in any teams. * Legion of Super-Heroes - The first team that Superman had participated in. The Legion initially came to Superman from the future, they would later make sporaidic apperances to him, most of the time with him and them teaming up. * Justice League - A team Superman joined shortly after his debut to the public. Due to Superman's presence as a well loved hero, it would be him that would make the rest of the heroes beloved to the public. * Trinity - The teaming of Earth's Greatest Heroes: Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. Earth 2 On Earth 2, there was also a Superman. This Superman was born Kal-L and too was the last son of Krypton, raised in the United States of America as Clark Kent. While the general history was much of the same, Kal-L was much older and became Superman much earlier, having a much deeper bond with his cousin, who became Power Girl. Kal-L also married his Earth's Lois Lane. Kal-L had advanced Earth 2 much more than Kal-El had Earth Prime, making it much more safe, essentially making Metropolis a utopia. On one known occassion, Kal-L teamed up with Kal-El to stop Kaiyo the Trickster, a New God who had been travelling through the Multiverse. This Superman sacrificed himself to save his Earth from the Apokolips War. However, his sacrifice had resulted in him being mindwiped to loyally serve Darkseid under Steppenwolf as Brutaal. After realizing that Steppenwolf cared only for himself, Brutaal killed the New God and took up Darkseid's cause for himself.